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Ad company creative director: Good move on new Jags logo

It's more streamlined. The colors are crisper, brighter. It honors the old one, but stands on its own. Most importantly, it kept the teal tongue -- and even emphasizes it.

Resistance is natural. But the new Jaguars logo will grow on you, predicts Mike Guiry, creative director at the Robin Shepherd Group, a Jacksonville-based marketing and advertising group.

I watched the unveiling of the logo Tuesday afternoon over the phone with Guiry. As it was first shown, several people at the ad agency could be heard exclaiming: "What?" And someone piped in: "Simba!"

Guiry, too, seemed a little tentative about it as he soaked it in. He said he wasn't sure what he was expecting -- perhaps something more radically different, as the new new uniforms expected in April are rumored to be.

But as he looked at it, he got to liking it, especially when it was combined with the military-style "JAGS" shield that was also unveiled.

"I like it. It crops well. It’s definitely a racidal shift in the style. The immediate Simba response I heard someone make, I don’t think it’s fair. The ears are pinned back, the teeth are sharper. It’s more realistic, and definitely a closer tie to the jaguar in front of the stadium. The bright color palette, I think, is interesting.”

But it's a little old-fashioned, perhaps? I asked.

"No, but I think it does make our current logo look old-fashioned," Guiry said. "This is an evolution, but there's definitely a jump."

Now there was nothing wrong with the old logo, he said: It's stood up well and would continue to do so. But it's smart timing for owner Shad Khan to put his stamp with a new one, one year after getting the team.

And it's good timing for Generation J, the team's younger fans, those who've grown up with it.

"You get a chance now for the next generation of Jaguar fans to claim their logo," he said. "It’s not just our logo, it’s their logo now."

Besides, the old logo will live on, Guiry said: It'll be on throwback uniforms and T-shirts, and you can play Madden football with the it. And it will last a long, long time, he notes, if you've got it tattoed anywhere on your body, as some diehard fans have done.